


Incentive

by Wu_Ling



Category: Heart no Kuni no Alice | Alice in the Country of Hearts, ジョーカーの国のアリス | Joker no Kuni no Alice | Alice in the Country of Joker
Genre: Card Games, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 02:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wu_Ling/pseuds/Wu_Ling
Summary: A little incentive was all he asked in return. It was up to her whether or not it was worth the price. Joker/Alice.





	Incentive

**Author's Note:**

> A little incentive was all he asked in return. It was up to her whether or not it was worth the price. Joker/Alice. 
> 
> Cross-posted on Fanfiction.net (The Last Deathly Guardian).

Alice stared blankly at her cards.

There should be some mistake-- yet the losing hand winking mockingly at her from the table top said otherwise.

Across her, Joker masked a poorly concealed grin at her rapidly paling complexion, as anxiety tensing her shoulders and the dredges of fear coloured her sky blue eyes as a turbulent ocean, panicking at the signs of a storm.

Deliberately, Joker placed his winning hand, face up, with a decisive _tap_.

It created the desired effect, and he had her full attention.

The smile he bestowed upon her distress, on the surface, showed empathetic understanding for her plight. It hid a much darker amusement lying beneath the porcelain facade -- a mischievous streak intertwined with ill-intent.

"Oh my, it seems you’ve lost this time, dear Alice," Joker said, the sweetness of his words bellied the tangy coyness layering his voice. Alice didn’t trust the look he gave her-- such an enchanting smile shouldn’t be allowed to be wielded as a weapon by him. It made it all the much harder to stay focused, to not be lulled into that false sense of security. "Hm, what ever shall you do?"

His questions loosened her tongue, which had tied itself into a bout of speechlessness since experiencing her first lost against Joker.

"I-I lost..Sorry, not to brag but this is hard to take in," she muttered, pressing her knuckles to her temple. It was such a minute movement but she was shaking. "We've never really discussed what happens if I...if I lost. Um, well, what happens now?"

His lips curled, a hollow-point smirk stretched over red lips. "You tell me, _little girl_." She was startled by the mean expression, taken aback by the change in demeanor. "What's a game without winning something worthwhile?"

Alice licked her dry lips, suddenly nervous in the presence of this particular Joker. "B-Black?" she guessed.

He flashed another smirk at her guess, leaning forward across the scattered cards, forcing her to back up in her small little chair. A heavy-lidded gaze perused her, trailing her figure from the column of her neck to her knee-high stockings. Involuntarily, her cheeks reddened at his blatant eye-stripping.

However, she refused to give in into the intimidation and daringly glared at his amused face.

"Missed me?" he teased, reaching out with a finger to caress her neck.

Stiffening, Alice let out a shaky breath and got up from, placing as much distance between them as possible.

Joker frowned at her, his fingers having stilled over where she had once sat before he retracted them back with an irritated sigh. "What are you doing all the way over there for? Come here," he sneered, sidestepping the table that separated them. Alice backed away at his advances, turning to run but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from getting far.

With little effort, she was spun around and pushed against a nearby tree.

Joker openly leered at her. "Caught you, minx."

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Alice looked at him with wide-eyes, anxious and frightened. "What are you going to do to me?"

He bared his teeth into a smile - if she wasn't feeling so cornered, she would have took the time to appreciate what a nice set of teeth he had. Stunningly white and beautiful -- and unfortunately wasted on a foul-mouthed man. "You lost, you remember that? I'm just claiming my prize."

"I never agreed to this! Ask for something else, anything else," she protested, curling her fists over his front. "I still want to change the seasons, so can't I play one more time? I'll definitely win and get those autumn sweets from the Amusement Park for you."

Joker pretended to ponder about it. "You drive a hard bargain, playing on my sweet tooth like that but I'm more interested in tasting those sweets now, if you catch my drift..." He leaned in closer, angling his face in such a way she knew what he wanted was a kiss.

However, before Alice could properly react, Joker stopped mere inches from her face. There was no significant change in his facial expression but somehow she got a sense it was no longer the Warden in control of the body but the Ringmaster.

Her guess was verified when that trademark, eye-crinkling smile of his made an appearance, so refreshing in its boyishness compared to those sinfully dark half-smiles of his counterpart. "I apologize for Joker's forwardness, Alice. Truly, we didn't mean to force you into anything that you didn't like."

Alice let out a breathless laugh, soft and relieved. "That's alright. You both just kept surprising me that's all. Could you um...could you let me go now?"

Joker hummed, snaking an arm around her waist, and ignoring her stammered protests, pulled her flush against him.

"Now, why would I ever do that?" he murmured, liking the rosy hue the crept up her neck and cheeks. He buried his head into her neck, breathing deeply. Alice swallowed harshly at the action. It felt like such an intimate thing to do. "I'm so much more comfortable in this position. Wouldn't you agree?"

"J-Joker," she stuttered, shuddering when she felt his tongue raking slowly across her neck, the hums of contentment he made making her feel more hot and bothered. She felt his hands press on either side of her hips, keeping her still as he had his way.

_Change the seasons_, a tiny voice repeated incessantly through her marsh-like thoughts._ Get Joker to change the seasons._ The voice pressed on when she didn’t listen, too ensnared by the creeping hand sliding up her dress…

"J-Joker," Alice whimpered, breathless, as she trying, in vain to shift away and stop his advances. Her thoughts cleared up slightly without the feel of his tongue on her as he raised his head to give her his undivided attention. It took her monumental effort not to swoon at his disheveled appearance, and forcibly repressed the shiver scaling the length of her spine from the smoldering look he gave her.

This man was dangerous, she reminded herself, steeling her resolve. Beautiful to look from afar but lethal when you get too close.

Too late for that. Alice was already quite too close for safety.

"What is it?" Joker asked silkily, his voice blanketing over her like velvet coated over dark chocolate. She could read the poorly concealed impatience in his posture though his face remained relatively pleasant, it was obvious he would rather be doing other things instead. The fingers curled against her stomach reminded her of that.

Alice shook her head and cleared her throat, attempting to focus.

"I...I want you to change the seasons. I know I lost the game," she quickly added. "Yet please reconsider, I’d like the chance to play again. I really must be on my way to the next season, there are people there who are waiting for me."

"Ah, how many times do to I need to tell you that, in my forest, time stops here." Joker brushed his lips against her cheek. "You won't be late."

'There's no need to rush,' as he puts it.

Alice leaned back until her head touched the tree bark, far from his touch. Joker stopped and observed her. He doesn't look happy, she noted silently. "That said, I’d still like to hurry this up. To change the seasons quickly."

Joker pursed his lips, staring at her intently. "You’ve used up the quota for card game this time period. You'll have to wait for the next time change to play again."

"But that’d take too long!" Alice cried. "Isn't there a faster way?"

"A request must be bargained with something of equal value."

"_Anything_." The word slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself, too caught up in the thought of being stuck at the circus for a longer period of time than she would have liked. Too late to take back her words now, Alice cleared her throat and repeated it with more conviction. "I'll do anything."

"My, my. You truly are desperate to get away from me," Joker said, sighing in such a dejected way that Alice almost felt bad for him. _Almost_.

Alice did not let herself forget his role was woven with lies, and his every action should always be taken with a hint of caution. This was Joker, after all.

"What do you wish for me to do?" Alice asked, already dreading the response; this time his smile completely failed to hide the sinister tilt of his sinful lips.

In a contradictory dance that only Joker was capable of, he twined his arms around her, handsome face openly mocking as he spoke the words into her ear.

"I want you to _kiss_ me."

It was the Warden who answered, rough and coarse in his overt familiarity with her. Alice, though used to the switching, was getting a tad dizzy from the abruptness of the changes today. It was sudden, random and difficult to follow.

"Eyes on me, girl."

Alice was pulled forward harshly, stumbling into his chest.

"J-Joker-"

"Hm, yes, _kiss me_," Joker murmured, dreamily, his warm breath fanning over her lips-- and Alice _quivered_ at having such a man so near to her, in such close proximity. It had her flushed and lightheaded-- her thoughts coming to her in interrupted patterns as they slowly, oh-so-_slowly_ shuddered to a halt.

"Kiss me as you would to your lover. Kiss me," Joker repeated, his voice hushed, dropping an octave as he pressed closer, trapping her against the tree bark, "And I will change the seasons for you. Wouldn't you like that, Alice?"

Alice did not respond, too afraid to even talk in fear of accidentally brushing her lips against his. She had agreed to do anything in return for his help but she felt this may be taking things too far.

What was it like to kiss a lover, she did not know. And for Joker to be asking her of that seemed cruel even.

Joker clicked his tongue. "Being silent doesn't suit you," he said, cradling her face in his hand. "Are my terms acceptable?"

_Was it worth it?_

Alice made her decision.

Grabbing him by the collar, Alice pulled him down and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this ages ago and I'm too lazy to fix anything up, hehe. 
> 
> Anyways, hoped you guys enjoyed it! (✿◠‿◠)


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